Feb. 19, 2004
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Senior Meghan Perry-Eaton (Brandon, Fla./Bloomingdale H.S.) and freshman Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) will be the top-seeded competitors tonight in their respective events after strong performances Thursday morning and afternoon in the preliminaries of the BIG EAST Championships in the Nassau County Aquatic Center. Perry-Eaton, the 2003 BIG EAST Diver of the Year, is the top qualifier in the one-meter competition, while Carroll led a 1-2-4-7-9 Irish finish in the 200 individual medley.
Notre Dame will have seven student-athletes competing in Thursday evening’s individual finals, while two more will take part in consolation finals.
Perry-Eaton continued her dominance in one-meter diving by topping the field by more than 34 points in the preliminaries with a score of 299.15. The ’03 conference champ in the event, she has been beaten just once this season off the one-meter board.
Carroll led the way in the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.77, improving upon her NCAA “B” cut in that race, meaning that she will be considered for a berth in next month’s NCAA Championships. She was followed closely by senior Lisa Garcia (Denver, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.), who set a meet record in winning the event last season. Her 2:01.86 was nearly four seconds quicker than her previous season best and marked her first “B” time of 2003-04. Freshman Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.) also notched her first “B” cut of the season by shaving 2.83 seconds off her time, finishing fourth in 2:04.04. Senior Marie Labosky (Churchville, Pa./Germantown Academy), the 2001 champion, qualified for the 200 IM final for the fourth consecutive year, coming in seventh in 2:04.89.
Sophomore Courtney Choura (Bridgeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic H.S.) was just .01 seconds shy of making it five Irish competitors in the final, as she was ninth in 2:05.02, cutting 3.51 seconds off her season-best mark.
Notre Dame was strong at the top in the 50 freestyle, with senior Danielle Hulick (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg H.S.), last year’s champion, qualifying second in 23.41 and earning her first NCAA “B” cut of the season. Freshman Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) cut .80 seconds off her best time in taking third in 23.55. It also was her first “B” time of the season.
Junior Katie Eckholt (Omaha, Neb./Marian H.S.) missed the consolation final by .04 seconds, tying for 17th with a season-best time of 24.10. Freshman Krissy Archer (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory H.S.) bettered her top time by .01 seconds in taking 28th in 24.35, while junior Kristen Peterson (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll H.S.) was 34th in a season-best 24.55. Freshman Meghan Linnelli (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield H.S.) was 40th in 24.86, .01 seconds better than her previous best time.
Notre Dame did not qualify anyone for either final of the 500 freestyle. Freshman Abby Strang (St. Simons Island, Ga./The Bolles School), the lone Irish entrant, finished 27th in 5:07.97.
In the 200 IM, junior Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School) improved her season-best time by nearly three seconds in finishing 19th, while freshman Annie Sweeney (Los Gatos, Calif./Archbishop Mitty H.S.) was 25th in 2:09.61, nearly two seconds better than her previous best. Sophomore Annie Mantey (Albany, N.Y./Onteara H.S.) finished 31st in 2:11.24.
Sophomore Samantha Raneri (Katonah, N.Y./John Jay H.S.) finished 14th in one-meter diving, missing the final, but still scoring three points for the Irish.
Thursday’s finals will feature the four events that had preliminaries, as well as the 200 free and 400 medley relays. Each individual swimming race has a final featuring the top eight competitors from prelims, as well as a consolation final featuring the next eight. Anyone swimming at night scores points for her team. In diving, the top eight advance to the finals, but the next eight also score points based on their preliminary totals. All teams with at least four student-athletes qualified for the meet may field one relay team in every race. Those are contested only at night and in two heats: one with the teams holding the top six times from the regular season and one with all other teams.
Notre Dame is seeded fifth in the 200 free with a time of 1:36.50 and fourth in the 400 medley in 3:22.71.
The Irish have won each of the last eight BIG EAST titles, triumphing by at least 113.5 points each year.